1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods for communicating data via a wide area network such as the Internet, including currency, postage, and indicia of postage or postage-like value indicia.
2. Description of the Related Art
Individuals, organizations, and business entities (collectively “individuals”) utilize postal and mail services on a regular basis. Historically, postage stamps have been applied to letters and packages as a representation that the required fee for delivering a letter or package had been paid. An improvement to the utilization of physical postage stamps is the application of indicia of postage with a postage meter. A postage meter incorporates a secure postage account device that is locally credited with a value of money. This has historically been accomplished by removing a portion of the postage meter and taking it to a post office, or taking the entire postage meter to a post office, where the postal service increments the postal account balance in the postage meter. A seal is applied to the device to prevent and/or indicate tampering. The account increase is accomplished by crediting the account value in the postage meter, through utilization of a secure procedure, in exchange for payment of an equal value of money to the postal service. The account value in the postage meter has real value equivalent to a quantity of postage stamps. While neither is legal tender under law, both represent monetary value, and can therefore be regarded as currency.
Having a postage meter with an account value, or having a quantity of postage stamps, enables an individual to apply postage to a letter or package without the need of physically visiting a post office. A letter or package can be sent by placing it in a mailbox or drop box at the individual's residence, place of business, or a convenient neighborhood designated drop box. The amount of postage required for a given letter or package is a function of the weight, size, destination, and class of service. This information can be obtained by combining a number of techniques. Postal carriers and delivery services publish rate tables that establish the cost for delivering letters and packages based on destination, size, weight, class of service and other factors. The individual need only determine the size and weight of an article, and select the class of service. A rate table can be employed to determine the amount of postage that must be affixed to the letter or package for the selected class of service.
The use of postage meters and stamps has been driven largely by the need to protect against fraud and theft of services from postal and other delivery type services. If payment for shipping and delivery is made at the time a letter or package is deposited with a delivery service, then no such stamp or metering system is required. Although, the service provider may place an indicia of payment on the item so as to notify others who subsequently handle the item that payment has previously been received and the full amount paid. Essentially, whenever a postal service or delivery service conveys postage, in whatever portable form, controls need to be in place to prevent fraud and theft. Such controls are burdensome, and costly to implement.
There is a basic tension that exists between the relatively lower burden and cost to a postal or delivery service in requiring customers to bring letters and package to a facility for payment upon deposit, and the convenience customers desire in depositing items in their own mailboxes, or at local designated drop boxes. Postage stamps and postage meters are techniques employed to mitigate this tension. With the advent of digital communications over public and private networks, and the Internet in particular, there have been other attempts to mitigate this tension.
Recently, the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) approved the use of electronic stamps. A company named E-Stamp was the first to successfully complete the U.S. Postal Service's arduous screening process. This was the first time a vendor was allowed to download postage over the Internet so that their customers, or users, could print it directly onto envelopes or labels using some combination of appliances such as software, a small piece of hardware, and a standard printer. The electronic stamps are officially called Information Based Indicia (IBI), by the USPS. The use of electronic stamps is the first alternative to conventional stamps since the approval of the postage meter in 1920. The approval process for suppliers of electronic stamps requires multiple levels of approval and testing because, essentially, electronic stamps represent the ability to print currency. In application, users pay for the electronic stamps online, then download them from a secure Internet site. The information to create the stamps is stored in the hardware, a security device. The device is connected to the personal computer's printer port. The electronic stamps are printed on the envelope or package label at the same time as the address.
The USPS identifies its electronic stamp product and process as PC Postage™. The USPS authorizes providers to use PC Postage™ for commercial applications. Information Based Indicia (“IBI”) is a form of postage evidencing for digital postage generated from personal computers. Like other forms of postage such as stamps and meter impressions, IBI are printed on an envelope in the upper right hand corner, or on a label for an envelope or package, to indicate postage payment. The indicium includes a two-dimensional barcode that is machine readable, along with human readable information. The IBI conveys mail processing and security related data. It is called information-based because of the information-carrying opportunities of the two-dimensional barcode.
There are two steps to using PC Postage: purchasing postage and printing postage. To purchase postage, a customer establishes a connection with a PC Postage vendor's Internet site. The customer can then purchase an amount of postage up to a limit, typically $500.00. Payment is typically made either through electronic funds transfer or by credit card. This process requires a pre-certification procedure by the PC Postage vendor to establish an account for each user, so that credit worthiness and payment terms can be established and enforced. There are two different ways customers can store and access the prepaid postage value. In one way, the postage amount is downloaded and stored in a small security device that is attached to the customer's PC. With the other method, the postage amount is stored on the vendor's Internet site. When the customer prints postage, the dollar amount is deducted from the prepaid account. Additional postage can be purchased from the PC Postage vendor's Internet site. The PC Postage vendors establish their own product pricing and service fees for offering this service. Thus, they produce their own profit in providing this service.
The technologies used in PC Postage include database management systems, secure file transfer protocol, public key infrastructure, cryptographic certification, two-dimensional barcodes and scanning verification. The unique combination of these technologies with audit and control procedures provides secure products for postage purchase and printing over the Internet. With regard to the IBI, the security device creates a unique digital signature that is included in the barcode. Each indicium is unique to the mail piece. Scanning technology is used to read the barcode information and verify its unique relationship to the mail piece. Further, duplicates detected in the mail stream would indicate fraud. The digital signature is used to verify that the information in the barcode has not been tampered with or altered in any way. IBI may be used in a variety of postage applications, including variations with computer architecture integration. The first generation PC Postage products were targeted toward personal computers and small home or office customers. It is also applicable to enterprise systems for use with larger mailing systems that may use mainframes or client-server environments to assist in mail production.
Regarding the practical utilization of electronic stamps, the forgoing services are directed to end users who establish an account with such an electronic mail service provider through an account establishment procedure. However, there are many scenarios where it is desirable to provide the conveniences of electronic mail access to users who do not have an individual account. An example of such a situation is the case of a return mailer as utilized in a commercial transaction. When a customer purchases a product from a vendor via catalog or Internet shopping, there are a number of situations where the item may need to be returned. For example, the wrong item may have been received, the item may not be functioning properly, the item may be the wrong size, or the item may have a defect requiring a warranty service action. Perhaps the return is a result of the normal course of business, such as a rental operation where goods are normally returned. In all these cases, and many others, the customer will need to return the item to the vendor. Return mailing requires return postage.
Vendors have employed various procedures to account for return mailing costs. In some cases, the vendor provides prepaid postage with stamps or postage meter indicia, on a label or envelope for use in returns by a customer. This approach is grossly inefficient because the postage is wasted in the vast majority of cases where the customer does not actually make a return. In other situations, the vendor requires the customer to purchase stamps, and then the vendor refunds the cost by payment or credit to the customer's account. This is inefficient due to high transaction processing costs. In other situations, the vendor provides the prepaid postage upon request of the customer. This is not only inefficient, but time consuming as well. Hence, the prior art approaches suffer from inefficiencies and high costs.
In addition, a significant number of individuals could benefit from utilization of such services but for the fact that these individuals have usage levels too low to justify the burden and cost of establishing service from a conventional electronic mail service. There are also a significant number of individuals who are unable to access such services due to a poor credit rating or lack of a credit card, both of which are typically required by conventional electronic mail services.
Thus there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for providing access to electronic stamps or prepaid mailing to end users, or customers, who do not otherwise have an established account with an electronic mail service provider, a postal carrier, or the USPS.